Tombs from the time of the Emperor Nero have been unearthed as the Vatican tries to clear space for an underground car park.

Vatican's parking problem likely to bury Nero, not raise him

Tombs from the time of the Emperor Nero have been unearthed as the Vatican tries to clear space for an underground car park.

Digging for the 300-space car park began months ago, but Vatican officials are now rethinking the project after the remains of the 2000-year-old necropolis were found.

Among the graves is the tombstone of Nero's secretary, along with well-preserved urns and amphorae. Officials denied the car park plans would threaten the discovery.

"Of course, no one will destroy any archaeological finds," said Monsignor Francesco Marchisano, the head of the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology.

Other Vatican officials, desperate to "decongest" the Holy See, which has faced growing parking problems in recent years, told the newspaper La Repubblica that ancient ruins were uncovered every time digging began in Italy. In this case they "did not seem that important", they said, and should not prevent the car park from being built.

"These days, even in the Vatican, it's difficult to drive around and find somewhere to park," said Archbishop Gianni Danzi, who is in charge of the Vatican's technical department.

The three-level car park is planned near a popular supermarket inside the walls of Vatican City.

The Vatican has faced growing parking problems in recent years as its 900 residents compete with outsiders for slots. Visitors tend to leave their cars in the Holy See before walking over the bridge across the Tiber into the restricted centre of Rome.

Before the 2000 Jubilee, the Pope blessed a 900-space car-and-coach park on the Janiculum Hill, next to the Vatican. Before it could be completed, the frescoed walls of a second-century villa had to be removed by the Italian culture ministry.

Archaeological experts from the Vatican Museum were called in to advise on the new car park in February, reportedly when security guards stopped a lorry leaving the site loaded with amphorae and tombstones inscribed in Latin.

Professor Andrea Carandini, the archaeologist who led excavations of the walls on the Palatine hill, where legend has it that Romulus founded the city of Rome, said: "I don't believe that death should always triumph over life. Sometimes the two can live together, as is the case for the Athens metro.